It’s time for an Uber/Lyft update. In case you didn’t know, on May 7th there will be an election in Austin focused around Uber, Lyft and any other ride-hailing companies in town. With just a little over a week until early voting begins, the ad campaigns are now in full swing and there has been a bit of confusion over what exactly they all mean.
As a reminder, this whole debate began last year when Austin City Council began to consider new regulations for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. The main sticking point was an ordinance calling for fingerprint-based background checks. City Council said that the additional checks would increase public safety. Most ride-hailing companies protested that they already conduct internal background checks and that the fingerprinting was burdensome and unnecessary. Both Uber and Lyft made threats to leave Austin if the new rules went into effect.
City Council eventually did pass a fingerprinting ordinance, and in response, a political action committee (Ridesharing Works for Austin) started a petition drive to replace it with a new ordinance repealing many of the regulations City Council had just passed. The petition drive garnered enough signatures to bring the issue to the voters, which is where we are today.
So what exactly will be on the ballot?
If you vote “yes/for” on Prop 1 (which is how the ride-hailing ordinance will be listed on the ballot) – you are supporting Ridesharing Works for Austin’s petition, which essentially repeals the fingerprinting ordinance (and a few other regulations) passed by City Council
If you vote “no/against” on Prop 1 – you are rejecting Ridesharing Works for Austin’s petition, and allowing City Council’s current ordinance to stay in place.
One last clarification – The question being asked on the ballot is not, “Do you want Uber and Lyft to leave Austin? Yes or no?”. City Council is not explicitly forcing any company to leave the city. It is up to Uber and Lyft to decide if they find the new regulations too burdensome to continue operating in Austin.
Who’s funding these efforts?
The most recent round of campaign reports, released last week, revealed a major mismatch in the amount of money being spent on theMay 7th election. Ridesharing Works for Austin, the political action committee that funded the petition drive and is now leading the “vote yes” effort, received more than $2 million from Uber and Lyft this year. The finance report shows $788,750 in cash contributions from Uber and Lyft to Ridesharing Works for Austin, along with $1,378,790 of in-kind support.
On the “vote no” side, the main political action committee is Our City, Our Safety, Our Choice, which raised $12,458.95 between February 26th (when it was created) and March 28th.
Who’s supporting who?
On the “vote yes/for” side Travis County Republican Party Vice Chair Matt Mackowiak has come out in support of Ridesharing Works for Austin. Former Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has also expressed his public support, saying that Uber and Lyft are, “… helping to reduce DWI accidents and providing safe, reliable rides for Austinites.”
On the “vote no/against” side, the Travis County Democratic Party is officially against Prop 1. The Austin Sierra Club Executive Committee also voted earlier this month to oppose Prop 1, “…because of the implications it has for future situations where private corporations may decide that our democratically elected officials are not making the right decisions for us.”
